Amos westcott



` l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ninos wnsrcor-T, on sYnAcUsn, New YORK.

IMPROVEMENTlN DEVICES FOR PREVENTINGDOOR-KEYS FROM EINGTURNED.'

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,665, dated February l0, 1863.

To @ZZ whom it may-concern:

Be it known that I, AMos WEsTco'r'r, of

the city of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented a' new and Improved Mode of Preventing Door-Locks from Being Picked; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full and eX act description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference 'marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in a.

' new device for preventing the key ina doorlock from being turned and pushed out from theoppcsite side of the door, and at the same time rendering the operation of otherwiseA picking the lockfar more diflicult, if not impossible.- `This in my invention is accomp plished by the use of a double escutcheon, the

one fixed to the door in the usual way, while the other, which is provided with a slot to t a flattened orsqnared placein the stem of the key, and which. slides-over and embraces the key in sucha manner as to hold it in any desired position.

Figure 1 represents this device and a section of a door in perspective.. Fig. 2 represents the first or stationary escutcheon, and is made in all respects like the ordinary escutcheen, with thel exception that it has through' it two holes, g g', through which screws pass to hold Y and to guide the movableescutcheon. Fig. 3 is the movable escutcheon, having in it the -two slots e g, through which the screws, Fig. 5, pass, .both to hold it and to guide it asv it moves up and down.

Above and connectedgwitli thekey-hole in this escutcheon is a third slot, d, which, when the esentcheon is depressed to its lowest point, shuts over the iiattened or squared portion of the stem of the key, and securely holds it from turning in either direction. This last or slid- `ing escutclieon'is slightly curved, the convex' surface being outward, so that when the head of the lower screw at b, Fig. l, is pressed iimly against it the tendency is to strengthen it, and to hold it firmly against the stationary escntcheon. This escutcheon is provided on its under side at thepoint h, Fig. 3, with a short pin,which, when the slide is at its lowest point, corresponds with and falls into a hole, h', Fig.' 2, in the stationary escutcheon Y and holds it rmly in place,-so.that. it Vcan-l Vabovedescribed, and before attempting to carry the sliding escutcheonupward the top of it must first be drawn forward by the handle, (hereinafter deseribed,) so as to relieve this' pin from the hole in the under plate.

Attached to the sliding escutcheon, at or near its 'upper end, is a handle, 7.'for raising or depressingit, and also. .to draw it forward to relieve the pin above alluded to.A

This device'may be used in connection with any ordinary` lock andv key, the only change required is simply to square or flatten that 'portion of the stemof the keywhich. passes through the escutcheon a, Fig.- 4.

Ii' the key is simply flattened, this should be done on the sides of the stein at right angles with the handle, as this will hold the bit ol' 1 the key b, Fig. 4, at right angles, or crosswise of the key-hole, and thus not only prevent itfrom being turned, but also from be-l ing pushed out; This position is also best withreference to picking the lock, as the bit of the key in that position lls that portion of the lock best calculated to prevent its being picked.

The operation of these different parts is as follows, viz: When the sliding escutcheon is carried up, the key-holes in the two perfectly correspond, andthe key 'can be turned as if there were but one, the ordinary escntcheon; but v when the outer cr movable escutcheon is slid down it will be seen that the hole made by the combination of the two is of an entirely different shape, the 'slot in the outer one passing across the round portion of the keyhole in the stationary one, and if the key is in place shutting over its squared orilattened portion, so 'as firmly to secure it from either being turned or pushed out oi' the door. To work this slide when it is up you have simply to press upon the handle.l k (the key being in position) till the slot d embraces the'key and the pin h falls into the hole on the under plate. pull the handle forward till the pin is discrigagcd, and then carry it directlyupward titl the lower end of the slots e g`strile the 1n the drawings I have adopted the per pendicular slide to bring together this slot and corresponding. square orA iiat section o the stein of the key, for the purpose of secnr ing the key; but it may in some varieties oi locks be desirable to h ave this outer escntclr con to move horizontally, or the two formsviz., the slot an d the square or attened keybrought together in the form of a latch, haw ing in view the same object and accomplished essentially by the same means.

When this device is applied to rimlocks, the first or stationary'escntcheon may be dispinsed with, as the slide would as Well rur.

against the etallic plate of theloek as against an extra escutcheon, which is only used in any case for a base over which to slide the movable escutcheon. As these (rim) .locks project from the door, and as in many ofthern the key-hole is near the top of the lock, it will frequently become necessary to move the sliding escntcheon horizontally, andvperhaps in someA cases resort to the latch form above referred to. Y v y 4 Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, with thev curved elastic slotted sliding plate A, of the handle k, pin h, and hole h', employed in the manner described, to secure the said sliding plate in the position for locking the key, but admit of its ready movement from within.

AMOS WESTCOTT.

Witnesses:

EDWARD G. SRAULDING, EDWARD H. WELLS, 

